Chapter Text
It was never something simple whenever Endeavor called them in for a mission. Being work study students, they were on call every day regardless of if they had school or not.
Midoriya nervously sat on the bench seat, clutching his briefcase to his chest as they rattled through the late evening traffic on the express train to Musutafu downtown center. “Do you guys think it's serious? I mean, he’s never called us in this late before.”
The train was relatively empty, despite a few white collar men and women that shared the same car, albeit on the opposite end.
Bakugou wore his typical look of irritated disinterest, looking pointedly away from the Nerd, with his hands folded behind his neck and his own case wedged between his feet. "You wanna go back with your tail between your legs, be my guest. I'd rather not have to look at your stupid face."
But as much bite as he put into it, it wasn't full force. He’d never admit it, but it was well after nine on a training day. He was tired.
"Even Endeavor wouldn't call us out this late for anything else." Shoto confirmed, standing near the other two with one hand gripping the dangling safety strap and the other around his briefcase.
"Yeah. You're right." Deku nodded, trying to imbue it with some confidence, though his face was still twisted with worry. Of course he easily ignored Bakugou's mean comments.
"It's probably just a minor villain that only moves at night and it's beneath missing out on beauty rest for Big Man #1." Bakugou scoffed, stretching out his arms fast enough that it would have knocked Midoriya in the chin, had he been sitting close enough. "Don't overthink it, dumbass."
The train started to slow as it neared the concrete structure of the next stop. The buildings were both unremarkable and familiar as the three of them had traveled this very route several times before.
A handful of people exited the train with them. It was a short walk to the tall building where the agency was, but it was surprisingly busy for the late hour.
"You know, It might be because it's something only we can do." Not taking Bakugou's warning, Midoriya had been analyzing and over analyzing the whole situation.
Ignoring the annoying muttering that was practically white noise at this point, Bakugou stepped in front of the youngest Todoroki, his case dangling from three fingers over his shoulder.
"Shoto! You've arrived!" Came the unmistakable boom of a voice from the agency's front door, ignoring the boy in front. It was a rarity, being met by Endeavor himself, rather than one of his many sidekicks.
He looked…strangely uneasy. If a face full of flames could have emotion other than a scowl.
"Endeavor." Came Todoroki's cool response. He walked into the building and passed his father without a second look.
Midoriya continued to mutter as he tailed the other boys in.
Inside was worse than outside, as a pair of men with arms full of papers nearly barreled into the trio. Whatever had happened, the agency was in shambles over it.
Suddenly, one of the sidekicks stopped. It was a woman they'd seen many times in the agency. After all, it was hard to miss her flaming yellow-green hair and bright orange eyes. Izuku knew it was Moe Kamiji, aka Burnin, one of the more notable members.
"You're here. Good. We've had your files on standby for about twenty minutes. Go get changed, as soon as you can. Endeavor or I will fill you in once you're done."
Of course she didn't need to tell them where the locker room was, they knew it well enough.
Bakugou didn't wait for her to finish talking, muttering under his breath as he made sure to stomp ahead in front of the other two.
Once changed they returned, with Bakugou once again in the lead. Midoriya was muttering the whole time from the back.
"What is the mission, Kamiji?" Shoto shifted as he pulled awkwardly at one of the straps on his chest. Because of course Endeavor wouldn't come address them, personally.
"Right to the chase, huh? I like that." The woman flashed Shoto a pointy grin. "Anyway, Endeavor asked for you kids, specifically. The villain isn't that dangerous. Doesn't typically use lethal force but she does have a pretty mean right hook. Anyway, her villain name is Succubus, and she leads a small gang of nobody crooks. We don't know much about her daytime activities, but at night her little gang has been robbing banks, convenience stores and just straight mugging civilians and low ranking heroes."
"So why are we needed?" Midoriya furrowed his brow as he tried to think of a good reason why a pro needed their help on this.
"What, you kids aren't concerned by the name Succubus ?" Burnin looked unconcerned. Really she seemed more amused than anything.
Bakugou clicked his tongue, his face falling into the ugly sneer most considered his resting face. "No, because we're minors and Endeavor's not dumb enough to pin us against some chick that's gonna try to get us to fuck her. Or each other."
"Right you are, kid! You get a gold star." The woman snickered. "She does use your own attractions and hormones against you, just not like that. And since you boys are likely full of that stuff Endeavor figured it would only be fair to tell you what you're up against."
Izuku, against every restraint he had, was muttering to himself and writing down everything that Burnin said. Where he hid the notebook in his hero costume was anyone's guess.
With that she flapped a single manila folder into Shoto's hands. Probably on his father's orders. "The most important thing is that the three of you don't get separated, otherwise she'll be able to pick you off. And no, it's not a challenge." She briefly glanced at their token angry blond. "We've been going after her solo for weeks now and no one has been able to see past her charms. She uses something we're gently coining 'adaptive camouflage.' Our best guess is it has something to do with pheromones, but we honestly don't have a solid theory how it works.
"Basically what it does is it reads a person's sexual preference and type and creates a disguise specific to the people she's in close vicinity to. It's why you'll never encounter her and her henchmen at the same time. And when you do encounter her you won't know until it's too late. Something about her power eases the people affected. We don't think it's a case of multiple quirks. Probably just a side effect." She paused once more and looked to Midoriya, her smile wiped away. "And to answer your earlier question, Deku, thirty of us other than Endeavor have tried to capture her, unsuccessfully. Apparently even in groups all of our preferences are too similar to pick her out."
There was a hum for Midoriya as he finished writing and closed his notebook. "So Endeavor thinks we have a diverse set of attractions that will throw her off?"
Shoto was busy burying his nose in the folder, flipping through all the gathered data.
"We don't know for sure, unless it's time to share?" Burnin teased, grinning at the freckled young man.
Said freckled man blushed a vibrant red.
"I'm not sure if it's that Endeavor loathes the thought of asking for outside help that badly, if he's hesitant to stop her himself or if he sees something in you boys that's different from the rest of us. But I think he's right and we're hoping it will wreck that camouflage."
"If I had the same type as Deku I'd vomit and stab my eyes out." Bakugou growled, throwing a glare at the younger boy.
Midoriya opened his mouth to protest, but Shoto spoke first. "It looks like she's been spotted consistently in the same area. I think we have a good chance of finding her if we head to the square."
"And she's a thief, so she'll be all over Half and Half." Bakugou let out a cackle. "This is gonna be cake! I could take out this loser with my eyes closed!"
"Why would she be all over this Half and Half?" Todoroki tilted his head with a frown.
"Duh? You stupid? Everyone knows you're loaded." The blond teen hissed.
In the back Burnin seemed to have cracked up a little, but was not trying to intervene.
"Endeavor has money. Not me." Todoroki frowned as an idea popped into his brain. "Maybe that's why he's sending us!"
"Maybe why he's sending you ." Bakugou scoffed again. Not that he or Deku had grown up destitute, but very few things screamed money like a Todoroki in Musutafu. "But I think he's a chicken."
"He's a lot more than a chicken." Todoroki grumbled before passing the manilla folder to Izuku. "Will we have back up?"
"You'll have a straight com signal to Endeavor, but otherwise not until you phone in." Their liaison cut back in. "Endeavor doesn't want anyone interfering with the three of you because of the delicacy of the villain's camouflage. But once you have Succubus in cuffs, we'll have a strike team assembled to catch the stragglers."
"Good. Means no one to interfere." Bakugou grinned for the first time since their arrival.
"Oh no." Midoriya groaned, knowing this was not going anywhere ‘good’.
~~~~
The downtown square of Musutafu was busy, even being near ten at night. It was surprising to the trio that their hometown had such a wild night life.
"Okay. " Midoriya nodded with conviction. "Where do we start?"
Bakugou grunted, not sparing the other two a glance. "You're the one that read the damn file. Use your Nerd Powers of Deduction or some shit. If her quirk's as specific as they say it is she ain't gonna just pop up with all these people around."
It was true that both Midoriya and Todoroki had read the files, it was hard to say how to get her to come out. Especially if they were in their hero costumes.
"Todoroki." Deku furrowed his brow in serious thought. "Do you have your father's credit card?"
"Yeah. Why?" Todoroki shuffled around in his costume to retrieve his wallet.
"I have an idea!" Izuku smiled now and looked at both his friends. "If she's looking for money, we need to pretend we have it. And that means we need to pretend not to be heroes for a minute."
"Undercover operation?" Todoroki asked.
"Exactly. " Confirmed Midoriya.
"Screw you guys it takes almost twenty minutes to put this damn thing on, I'm not changing anything!" Bakugou was not going to mention that half of that was makeup. Absolutely not. None of their fucking business. "You guys go undercover, I'll split off and take care of it, myself!"
"We're not supposed to split up! " Deku cried, looking between Todoroki and Bakugou.
"Whole agency is full of fucking cowards!" Bakugou snapped back. Spinning around to finally jam a finger roughly into Deku's chest. "It's not that hard! You see a ten outta ten you punch 'em in the face! You think I'd have any problem doing that?!"
Izuku frowned and took a gentle step back. "It's not cowardice!" he puffed himself up and furrowed his brow. "You really think the number one hero and his whole agency are cowards?"
"I do." Todoroki chimed in with too much confidence.
"Besides, if this villain managed to get past thirty Second Class Heroes you think for a moment she'll hesitate when it comes to three Provisional Heroes?" Katsuki only realized after the fact how that sounded, despite the fact it was true. Anyone who knew who they were also knew they were students. "So either we split up and you two play dress up with daddy's money or we do a damn patrol. You already look like you're asking to get mugged." He turned to Todoroki this time. "I'm talking about both of you."
"We do not!" Izuku huffed, trying and failing to stand up to Bakugou.
"I do?" Todoroki looked down at himself with confusion.
Of course, being that they were just outside a busy street some onlookers had diverted their attention and were staring. Fortunately Bakugou growling in their direction was enough to get them to move along.
"Tch. Whatever. I'm going ahead with my plan. Do what you want."
Izuku turned to Todoroki, pleading as Bakugou tramped off. "We can't let him off on his own! It was the one rule!'' Of course he was thinking that this was how they'd lose their internship.
Todoroki shrugged, and then they both turned and followed after the explosive boy.
"Okay. Then what's your plan, Bakugou?" Midoriya questioned, keeping pace, if only barely.
"The alleys. There's a shit ton of them in this area." Bakugou knew because he used to skulk around this very area back in middle school with the group of extras he'd called 'friends'. "Once we get closer shut the fuck up about the mission, though."
Even now he was starting to get paranoid that the villain could be anywhere.
"But you're the only one talking about the mission!" Midoriya grumbled as he fell back in step with Todoroki.
They walked in silence until they slipped into one of the said alleyways. The narrow pathway was lit, serving as a back entrance to the shops and restaurants in the square. There were dumpsters, flies and a few men in white aprons smoking cigarettes, but not much more. As they turned between buildings they could still see the main footpath and the civilians passing by, no one sparing them a second look except a small boy being tugged along by his mother.
It seemed a bit late for families to be out, but this part of town was usually deemed safe, though Bakugou recognized it wasn't that far from the place they'd run into the Sludge Villain a year ago… or rather, he and Deku had.
"So, Bakugou. What are you thinking? " Midoriya widened his eyes as he waited, expecting some grand plan.
"I have an idea. " Todoroki formed and wandered back into the street. From there, he followed the little boy until he was close enough. "Ma'am?"
When he wanted to, Todoroki could be unpredictable, and as such even Bakugou was forced to bite his tongue and reach to stop Shoto… though in that he miserably failed, his fingers reaching out at nothing then playing it cool when the small child's eyes locked directly on him.
Without so much hesitation, Todoroki got down on one knee and came eye to eye with the little kid. "Hello. My name is Todoroki. I am a hero. If it's okay with your mom, I want to buy you an ice cream? "
Mismatching eyes looked up to the mother, waiting for her response.
The woman smiled with recognition as the boy's eyes lit up. "Oh, you're Endeavor's son, the one with the ice!" She beamed as the boy was nodding.
He pointed at Bakugou and Midoriya and grinned. "Danger Broccoli with the funny arms! and Angry Doggy Explosion Guy!"
Apparently six year olds still cared about the sport's festival. And knew some of them, even if the nickname had Bakugou wearing an expression that looked like he was causing himself physical pain not ripping the squirt's head off.
"Endeavor is my father." Todoroki confirmed, and pulled his right hand out. With a little concentration, he formed a small ice statue, a little replica of a dog made entirely of ice. "So how about ice cream?"
"Ice cream!" The boy shouted.
And, despite being shut away for so many years, Shoto clearly had knowledge of the area, because not only was there an ice cream stall nearby, but it was one of few things open at the late hour.
As they traversed the short distance to the stall, the boy rambling off all his favorite flavors- some of which were hero themed- the mother turned to Todoroki, speaking softly. "While this is very nice of you, I have to wonder if it's all right for you to do something like this while you're on patrol?"
"It is very important to our mission." Todoroki confirmed in complete seriousness.
"But you're not in danger!" Deku had caught up with them and made sure to keep with the hushed tones of the conversation. "We thank you for your help! Really, we do!"
"Oh," the woman seemed to consider that, and was clearly eased by Izuku's friendly exterior, "if you're after a villain, should you really be trusting someone-"
"It ain't you." Bakugou said with an amused snort. "Trust me."
"KACCHAN!" Midoriya exclaimed, looking slack jawed from his friend to the woman. Fortunately the woman looked confused, if not shocked, by the hero-in-training's outburst.
"What? Not like she knows what that means." Bakugou let out a deep laugh.
Todoroki, on the other hand, had grabbed the child's hand and was ordering him his ice cream. Once the child had ordered his treat, giving an enthusiastic 'thank you', he was handed a triple stacked monstrosity of blue and pink with sprinkles. Grabbing Todoroki's hand once again, he skipped happily back to the others with half of it already stuffed in his mouth.
When this didn't pull enough attention, Todoroki repeated the process to every child they could find, as well as some nearby adults. By the time they were finished, the ice cream cart had sold out for the night and the square was abuzz.
"What now?" Todoroki turned back to the other two. They had stood by the cart and watched the surprisingly charismatic act take place from the normally dense as dirt Todoroki.
"We wait? I think everyone in the square knows we're here." And that had been the point of spending Endeavor's money. Deku was certain it was just a matter of time.
Bakugou agreed with Midoriya on that point, though he was not going to admit it. "Well, don't just stand there. Let's continue the patrol." He prayed the other two were smart enough to get his underlying meaning, though he wasn't expecting much. He was being very patient, as far as he was concerned. "Some villains wait until the population thins out."
"Right! " It was like a switch had been flipped in Midoriya. He stood up tall and alert. "That way!" He pointed and started into the crowd which was still full and rowdier than ever.
This was exactly why Bakugou had wanted to split off by himself.
Deciding he wasn't content to just follow the broccoli head's command, Bakugou pointed his hands downwards and blasted himself up and over the crowd, only to land atop the low building across the square.
In the center of the square, moments after Bakugou's outburst, a woman screamed before collapsing to the ground. "Help!" She was out of reach of both of the other two boys, the crowd suddenly pressing them together.
Bakugou first looked at the woman and then across the crowd to spot the other two heroes, feeling something very off. He couldn’t quite see the collapsed woman from his vantage point, but he could only think of three explanations.
The least likely scenario was that it was a complete coincidence. Rather than separate from the other two completely he had gone ahead to try and get a better eye on the situation, yet the moment he landed someone collapsed. It was far too opportune timing, but there was a slim chance.
The second least likely scenario was that it was, in fact, the villain they had been seeking. His doubts came in the vast number of bodies in the area. Should she activate her quirk in a crowd like this, there was no way she’d hit only her intended targets, and if the agency’s intel was correct, it was likely to cause a total meltdown in her power to do so. And if they were wrong? Yeah, he’d know right away and he’d already expressed his willingness to punch someone hot if they deserved it. And she fuckin’ deserved it.
Third, and most likely, was that the collapsed woman was not the villain or a bystander, but one of the villain’s gang, attempting to separate the three heroes. Unfortunately for her, Bakugou wasn’t an idiot in any sense of the word and he’d far from lost his senses in a blind fury.
But even if it was scenario one or two and he was overthinking, he had a backup plan. If their group was good at two things it was offensive attack power and overall mobility. He had no doubt Deku and Todoroki would find a way out of the crowd, likely using an ice ramp or Deku’s stupid Full Cowling and they would be on scene far faster than this villain or her stupid lackeys ever anticipated.
So he’d play ball, or pretend to, for now.
And with that Bakugou jumped down from the building and moved to the woman on the ground trying to grab a glance before getting too close to properly assess the situation. “Okay fuckwads, get back. One at a time, what did you see?”
Nervously, the concerned bystanders started explaining what they'd seen. It was a mix of stories, none of which made any sense. The woman in the ground was bleeding from a wound on her leg, and was, in fact, rather gorgeous.
However, after a moment, there was a second similar scream, and then a third.
The screams only served to solidify Bakugou's deduction. It was sloppy, trying the same trick three times. He pinpointed the other two locations, then looked back at the woman on the ground. "It's not fatal and you're in no immediate danger. Someone call them an ambulance!"
"Wait! " The woman had tears in her eyes, now, as she grabbed awkwardly for Bakugou's gauntlet. "You can't leave me like this! "
There was a flash back to the Provisional License Exam and it was the one and only reason Bakugou ground his teeth together rather than spew the line of obscenities welling up on his tongue.
She might be a fake, but there were civilians literally everywhere.
"You're- you're not dying. It's a surface wound, if you can just hang on until the ambulances arrive you'll be fine." God this was painful, and he knew he was botching it up. He could just hear the screams of those idiots saying 'minus ten points!' Over and over again. "Your injury is surface deep, but those other two people might not be so lucky. I'll check back in on you as soon as possible."
Turning back, he pushed at the crowd with a new determination to make it to the next scream, and hopefully the idiots he'd come in with.
~~~~
"What happened, ma'am?" Izuku was down on one knee, looking at the woman who was on the ground with the front of her shirt torn.
There was a third and fourth scream in the crowd now, and panic was starting to swell like a tide.
"Deku!" Bakugou didn't even hesitate for a second before grabbing the other teen by his arm and wrenching him to his feet. "Surface wounds! You're… charismatic or some shit! Take high ground and get these people evacuating! Where's Icy Hot?"
Blinking in concern, Midoriya pointed off in the direction he'd last seen Todoroki. "We can't just leave them!"
Two more screams ripped through the air, from two other corners of the open courtyard.
"Moron! Don't you get what's going on?" Bakugou clicked his tongue and let go of the other boy's arm, as aggressively as possible. "It's starting . Since you were the one insisting we don't get separated, you should realize that's exactly the aim of this trap!"
Deku's jaw tightened, looking at the woman on the ground and back to Kacchan. "We can't leave them." But even so, Bakugou was right. It could be a trap.
"Are you kidding me? Right now Todoroki Moneybags, the most likely target, is still separated!" Not that Bakugou gave a crap about Todoroki. The guy could take care of himself. "But you know what? Fine."
Bakugou narrowed his eyes and reached down, grabbing this second woman under the arms and dragging her to her feet. The wound was supposedly on her chest, but he didn't buy it. "There's a pouch on my left hip, get some gauze outta there and I'll prove it. But, Deku, if you touch anything else I will murder you!"
Izuku flared bright red as he nodded. He went exactly for what Bakugou had requested and removed the gauze, fingers fumbling as he stepped forward. "Do you mind ma'am?"
In a Midoriya-like display of emotion the woman's eyes started to glass and spill over, chanting over and over again 'it hurts'.
At this point Bakugou saw nothing but stalling for time.
"Please. I need to have a look!" Deku glanced from the woman to Bakugou. She seemed entirely unwilling to show off any wound. Perhaps Kacchan was right?
The woman looked up and clearly avoided Bakugou's piercing eyes to meet Midoriya's instead, punctuating a sniffle as she attempted to stop the tears, her cheeks genuinely splotchy from the attempt. "O-okay, if you must. Please be gentle."
Midoriya nodded, but he was bright red as he urged her to peel her arms away from her chest. The fabric was torn as if someone had pulled at it with force. There was superficial blood, but from what Midoriya could tell, there wasn't a cut big enough even to need the gauze in his hand.
"Can we go now?" Bakugou growled, sounding more like a petulant child than he was intending. "Didn't we already decide Icy Hot was the most likely?"
He was intentionally being vague, since this had all but confirmed his suspicions.
"Um. Yeah." Izuku bowed slightly before moving away. "Medics will be here, soon! "
He followed Bakugou's lead in the direction he had gestured before. They shouldn't have split up and now Shoto could be in serious danger.
Ignoring the sounds of panic was more difficult than it seemed it should be, though the two heroes soon found themselves breaking out of the crowd to find Todoroki was no longer where he'd been left.
Bakugou was scanning the various offshoots and alleys when they both heard a loud yelp, one nothing like screams that had separated them, initially.
~~~~
Todoroki was left blinking at a woman who had just jumped back as if he had electrocuted her. He was, however, entirely certain that his quirk was ice and fire. Kaminari was the electric user. "Are you alright?"
"Wait, stop!" She shouted, covering her face as though she couldn't bear looking at the teenager across from her. She had been the one to approach him, and yet the strange woman had also been the one to shirk away after glancing at her own hands.
Which, yes, had an odd grayish color and a bit of a prunish texture, but there were much stranger things out there than a bald lady with gray skin.
Todoroki took another step forward. "Are you alright?" His own face shared the patterning hers did. If it wasn't for the pale, sickly color, Todoroki would have assumed it was a burn like his own.
Just as Todoroki's foot hit the pavement there was a loud crash as an explosion displaced a small crater in the concrete. Left behind was a fuming Katsuki Bakugou, looking ready to pounce from his newly minted pothole. "Back up, Icy Hot, it's a trap!"
Todoroki furrowed his brow and looked back at the woman. As he opened to say she might actually be hurt, Midoriya swung in using black whip. "Kacchan!"
"Shit…" the woman muttered in a husky voice as she pulled her hands back to gaze at them. "Gotta get out, this is bad. So bad."
Red hair began to tumble from her scalp, staying cropped short against her head for a moment, then drawing out longer to dust her shoulders. Her skin gained color in blotches and her frame began to shift.
"See? Told you! Deku, get your cuffs!" Bakugou barked.
“Oh! Right!” Izuku’s eyes widened as he fumbled for the cuffs on his belt. As he moved towards her, the three of them cornering her, the red hair blotched brown while simultaneously falling out in patches.
Todoroki frowned as he moved in to tackle the woman to the ground. “I think she’s sick, guys.”
“And your first instinct is to tackle her?” Bakugou nearly shrieked, though he stopped himself short when the tone of his voice started to rise, not only to avoid a sound that was reminiscent of something that would spew out of Deku’s mouth, but also because he had no idea what he was seeing.
And he didn’t know which thing was freezing him in place.Was it Todoroki being a fucking alien who thinks sick people were to be tackled or the woman, who was for some reason in a perpetual stage of shedding her hair? In fact, the longer he stared the worse it was. Almost as though her body was convulsing under her clothes. Or was it changing shape in a pattern that resembled the repeated hair loss? That had to be it. His gaze shifted from her head to her exposed hands, which were thickening, thinning, then withering and graying into the color and texture she’d been when they first arrived, over and over.
“Please stop! Get away from me!” the woman wailed, bodily shoving her weight into Todoroki to get him to move. And she wasn’t weak, though whatever was happening seemed to have her in a state of panic just as it did the others. Her finger came up and shoved first into Todoroki's face. “It’s you! This is your fault! Or maybe yours!” The second time she pointed at Bakugou. “If the two of you hadn’t arrived!”
“Hold her still Todoroki!” Midoryia was now kneeling next to the squirming mess that was, whatever this woman’s quirk was.
“I’m trying!” Todoroki insisted, his body the only thing keeping the villain from escaping. While she was strong, they were much stronger.
“I said get away from me!” The changeling woman screamed as if she was burning, but still, they managed to get one cuff around her ever shifting wrist.
“Help would be great!” Midoriya pleaded with Bakugou, who was still just staring at them.
Snapping from whatever it was that had kept him from reacting, Bakugou dropped to his knees and put a firm hand right between her shoulder blades to stop the majority of the thrashing. “Deku, what kind of jacked up crap gets you hard to make this chick’s quirk go nuts? This ain’t a ten at all!”
Because apparently the best way to recover from freezing up like an idiot was to immediately insult Midoriya.
Izuku fell backwards and opened his mouth agape. “I like normal things! I swear. How do you know it's not Todoroki!” Even still, his cheeks reddened in embarrassment.
“Way to take sides, Deku!” Bakugou barked a laugh as he finished clicking the second cuff that the green haired boy had fumbled as he fell back. “You saw it, right? Todoroki’s into prunes. Weird, sure, but she didn’t start shedding till you showed up.”
“I like pretty girls!” Izuku blushed deeper as he stood and pulled his cellphone from his pocket. With fumbling fingers, he dialed Burnin’s number. He would focus if it killed him, and the way that Kaachan was going, it just might.
“Pretty? Ha?” Bakugou shifted so that his knee was in place over the villain’s back. Strangely enough, her skin didn’t seem to shift under his touch, just everywhere around it. It was kind of freaky. “I don’t see nothin’ that looks pretty, I think you’re shitting me. But at least it’s fucking confirmation that me and you have nothing in common.” He turned back to Todoroki and frowned until his entire face was a collection of grumpy creases. “Or you. Guess your old man was right.”
Shoto froze in place, all but a small movement of his breath in his chest. “I am not sure I heard you correct.” He blinked twice and tilted his head as if that would make it easier to hear whatever Katsuki had to say.
Midoriya was busy trying to ignore the situation by telling Burnin and co where they were located and that they had in fact caught the villiness and possibly some of her henchmen.
"You deaf? Stupid? Don't remember the whole 'the three of us got nothing in common' chat?" And really, Bakugou's twisted scowl was half a look of disbelief as it was. "Though the fact none of those fuckers could do this? At this rate it's no wonder he could never break number one on his own. I coulda done this by myself with my eyes closed and the number one hero refusing to come out cause he's scared everyone's gonna see what gets his boner up… when the damn power doesn't even work on a bunch of teenage boys! PATHETIC!"
Shoto opened his mouth before choosing it. It was difficult enough to figure out what Bakugou meant on a good day. Even more so when he was insulting them both. "I mean. He is pathetic." Todoroki agreed before standing and crossing his arms over his chest.
Fortunately the need to rant seemed to have passed, though Bakugou's chest heaved as though shouting had taken more out of him than all his flying about the square.
"One more thing." Now his ruby red eyes weren't flicking about but were burning into Shoto, directly. "How did you do it? How'd you short circuit her quirk?"
Todoroki felt a heat tip his ears as he cleared his throat. "I, uh," He looked off to the side with a slow breath, "Don't think I like sex." It was a mumble and barely audible but it was there. Now out in the open.
Bakugou tried, then failed to hold back a howl of a laugh. "Oh man, you're the perfect 'fuck you' to Endeavor. You should tell him! Watch him squirm! This is the greatest thing I've heard all day!"
The blush spread under his scar and over the bridge of his nose. "It's none of his business. " Shoto continued to study a particularly interesting spot on the wall.
"Okay. Burnin and a few others will be here in a little." Midoriya frowned as he looked between his two friends. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Endeavor Jr. here just seems to be the problem." The villainess cursed as she squirmed once again against the knee in her back to no avail.
"Shut it!" At the flinch Bakugou put more weight down, though just enough to up the discomfort a notch. Then he looked up to Deku and rolled his eyes. "Icy Hot's too scared to tell daddy he's ace even though the thought of no perfect grandbabies might actually cause the old geezer to die."
"KACCHAN!" Deku exclaimed, eyes widening. "That's not very nice!"
"You really think it would? " Todoroki was still blushing, but there was a look of contemplation over it.
"Or, better yet, if that doesn't work, since your said you don't like sex," Bakugou wasn't sure if that comment had meant Todoroki wasn't actually a virgin, as it implied, but honestly he didn't want to think about it, "adopt a kid with the worst quirk possible, like greasy hair or neck feathers, or even better if Deku ever somehow manages to breed adopt his kid!"
Todoroki would think he meant something more by that, but Katsuki didn't care if Shoto didn't know the truth of Midoriya's quirk, or lack thereof.
"I don't want children." Shoto responded flatly.
"You're being really mean, Kacchan! " Midoriya shifted, feeling just as uncomfortable by the conversation as Todoroki.
"When did I ever claim tO BE NICE!?" Bakugou's voice cracked as he snarled, inadvertently putting more pressure down on his knee than was necessary.
There was renewed squirming from the villainess at that. Before anyone could respond, Burnin burst from the crowd and into the alley. She looked breathless and more wind blown than usual.
Immediately the woman's appearance began to shift again, though Burnin was now quick to action as she redirected two other sidekicks to lift and remove the captured Succubus. Bakugou nearly stumbled as he was shooed to the side. "Great work, kids. You handled that fast."
"Whoa, I think her power short circuited." One of the two men said, clearly unsettled, though they were far enough away now that neither could be seen through the crowd, where other accomplices were also being detained. "Wait, there it goes. Back to normal."
"How'd you do it?" Burnin asked with a smirk, her earlier discomfort gone. "I mean the pinpoint camouflage, the sedative effect?"
The villain gasped, finally appearing to be more than the mess she'd been before. Her skin was pale as if it had never been touched, and her long, dark hair spilled over her shoulders in healthy waves. Once she had taken a few lungfuls of air, she spit at Burnin's face. "You wish."
Fortunately for both of them, the hero was able to flip her hair to the side and incinerate the offensive projectile before it made contact. "Don't touch me, bitch. I'm not taking heat over you, again. Besides, I was talking to my teammates. You won't talk, but they beat you and I wanna hear it before the report goes in. They were the ones you couldn't camo against and they didn't fall for your sedative crap."
Succubus hissed, her beautiful face contorted almost making her appear like Medusa, if only for a moment.
Deku was the first to step in and, in typical fashion, over-explained the situation to the last detail. He did, however, leave out how Bakugou had roasted Todoroki and himself moments before the heroes arrived. He also skirted around Todoroki's admission of his sexual orientation as it wasn't his business to share.
Todoroki remained stone-faced and silent throughout the whole novel of an explanation.
The villain has been removed and formally arrested as Midoriya spoke, though Burnin's vibrant red-orange eyes narrowed at a few specific points. "So none of that makes sense." She admitted, settling a hand on her hip. While she wasn't sure about Izuku's propensity to lie, she was certain that he normally managed to at least get his story to make sense. "So, let's get this straight, before Endeavor blasts your reports to pieces, huh? Did you or did you not feel a calming effect when she got close to you? How close did Shoto get before her camouflage dropped? And lastly, do you feel any different after-"
The conversation cut short as Bakugou stumbled where he stood and his knees immediately gave out.
"Kacchan?" Midoriya rushed to his friend's side, kneeling to help him back up. "Are you okay?"
There was a weak attempt to swat away Deku's hands, but as he made it to his feet, Bakugou stumbled again.
This time his eyes rolled back and instead of catching on his knee he collapsed into Izuku, going entirely limp.
Burnin was at his side immediately. "What the hell- was he injured?"
Midoriya shook his head and looked the woman in the eyes. "No. He's tired." It all made sense all of a sudden; why Bakugou had been meaner than normal. He had been relying on adrenaline to combat the nitroglycerin coursing through him. "It's a side effect of his quirk."
The hero frowned, but still checked on his pulse and breath. Then she looked up. She knew, at least basically, that the two were childhood friends and that Izuku had an abnormal knowledge bank of information on various quirks. "His heart rate is a little low compared to his usual resting rate. I'll have a medic take a look back at the agency, just in case. Let's get moving, boys, we can fill in the rest of the gaps on the way."
Nodding, Shoto and Izuku lifted Bakugou between them as they followed behind the green haired hero.
~~~~
As confirmed by one of Endeavor Agency's field medics, Bakugou was in fact fine, just as Midoriya had suggested. The woman did, however, insist on contacting both Katsuki's parents and U.A., considering the fact that the chemical sedative secreted by Succubus seemed to have exacerbated a known side effect of his quirk. As a minor, it was protocol, though she didn't seem concerned about long term repercussions.
She did, however, collect blood samples from both of the conscious boys for analysis, to compare to samples from other, less successful members who'd faced off with Succubus as well as those from Succubus, herself. Bakugou's would be collected once he was conscious, but for the time being they let him sleep it off on one of the agency's couches.
When the remaining two reached the briefing room Endeavor and Burnin were already waiting.
"Shoto! Deku! What an overwhelming success!" The large man boomed, his arms crossed over his chest, his appearance intimidating despite the fact only his face remained alight with flames. "Such a pesky villain, taken down so easily."
Midoriya nodded aggressively while the duo took their seats. "It was difficult luring her out but after that, she wasn't that formidable. Sir." Izuku made sure to add.
"So I hear. We were having trouble with her sedative ability. Whatever it was that allowed Shoto to break her disguise," piercing blue eyes pointedly scanned his son, yet didn't seem to come with an answer, "must have interfered with the sedative enough that you were able to stay level headed. She's been captured then let go more times than I'd care to admit…"
Shoto sat with his hands in his lap, staring at a spot on the table. He was trying to keep a cool and composed expression on his face, while also not giving anything away. He was just glad Bakugou wasn't here, otherwise it would have been very uncomfortable.
And that was where they sat for too long, waiting for something that wouldn't happen.
"I honestly didn't feel anything, Sir Endeavor! " Midoriya squeaked, breaking the silence. "Perhaps we overwhelmed her? Or maybe our age played a factor. It would be interesting to understand her quirk better!"
"Perhaps." Endeavor's eyes narrowed even further. "It seemed to have affected your friend, but your voice still is rather high. We'll see when test results come back."
Midoriya felt his face flush and nodded. He looked from Endeavor's flaming features to Burnin's, almost pleading with her to save them any further embarrassment. "Yes, Sir."
Unfortunately for both of them Burnin rather seemed to be enjoying watching them squirm and made no move to assist.
Todoroki still refused to look at his father. "Is that all?"
"Yes. You're dismissed." The number one hero said, hesitantly. "We'll call Aizawa to pick up Bakugou."
"And us?" Midoriya asked as he nervously.
Todoroki had stood already and was making his way to the door.
Though the intense frown didn't move and the flames of Enji's brow were obscuring the pinch between them, it was clear that the searching in his eyes was that of confusion. "What happened to the car that brought you?"
Blinking, Izuku wondered if he was being tested. "We took the train here, Sir." Todoroki was already gone through the door and who knows where at that point.
Endeavor's head whipped toward the door where the youngest Todoroki had disappeared. "Shoto! What did you do to the car!"
"Um, excuse me, Sir Endeavor." Midoriya made a quick obeisance before rushing the door after Todoroki.
It wasn’t difficult to track the other boy down as he wasn’t trying to be sneaky. He had headed straight from the debriefing room, which now that Midoriya had thought about it, hadn’t had any moments of debriefing, and into the office where Bakugou was sound asleep.
Todoroki stood over Bakugou, and was lightly shaking him back into awakeness. “It's time to go, Katsuki.”
At first the boy responded only with a heavy, ragged groan, but soon was fluttering his eyes open in a manner far more subdued and groggy than the usual sneer and explosion when someone woke him up in the common room. Judging by how much trouble he was having grabbing hold of consciousness, he was far too tired to muster up the energy.
“Fu-off…” was the closest thing to words as he curled up in a little ball on the couch.
Izuku sighed, finally catching up with Shoto. “Hey. Endeavor is kinda mad about a car? Were we supposed to be picked up to come here?”
“Probably.” Todoroki frowned as he poked Bakugou in the midriff.
The poke was clearly not appreciated, as the soft curl became a sharp wince and the explosive teen swung an arm towards Shoto, only to miss and land him toppling onto the floor. That, at least, was enough to wake him up, fully. “Fucking Half and Half. Die!”
“Perfect. It’s time to go.” Todoroki stood from his crouched position and turned, still ignoring Izuku.
“Um? Car? Any explanation there?” Midoriya gestured to the door wildly as if that would be the only way to get a response.
Bakugou might have been awake, but his responses were still slowed, and before he could get out his puzzled accusations about whatever they were talking about Endeavor had reappeared in the doorway. “Shoto! How do you plan to return to your dormitory?”
As if his entire night had been ruined, Shoto sighed and looked his father in the eyes. “I was going to take a taxi back or wait for Mr. Aizawa with Bakugou.”
Midoriya let out a huff, and plopped onto the couch that had been in use until just moments ago.
Fuzzy eyed Bakugou sat up from his spot on the floor and immediately kicked at Midoriya’s leg, which was clearly in his spot. “Who’s calling what? The hell. Why’d you guys let me fall asleep, jerks?”
Not that they could have helped it, really.
“Shoto.” Endeavor was trying to quell his flames, though the rapid crackling did much to display his true feelings about the matter. “Aizawa won’t be here for an hour. I’m calling the driver now and finding out where you sent him. Don’t you dare get in a taxi.”
“I trust the taxi more than that weirdo driver. Come on, guys,” Shoto had started typing something into his phone as he went to move past his father. “A cab is on the way.” Of course, on Endeavor's dime.
Midoriya had a bad sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“Shoto, wait!” The big hero didn’t move, however, the medic swiftly moved around him. “We still need to do Bakugou’s blood draw and Aizawa is still en route.”
“What, that hag give me an STD on top of the weird, kinky dreams?” Bakugou mumbled under his breath, shooing away the medic when she came too close. It pushed him closer to Shoto than he wanted to be, but he was on his feet, now, and trailing the younger Todoroki towards the door. “Fucking… taxi. Class in the morning. Bullshit.”
With a huff, Izuku pushed himself from the couch, and started to follow the other two. He would not be left behind. “Sorry, sir.” He grumbled as he bowed and passed him.
Todoroki, leading the way, moved to the elevator. He was ignoring everything and everyone who tried to stop him. He would not accept his father’s help.
They managed to exit the building entirely without more than Endeavor's shouts following them and once they reached the chill of the cold night air a sense of stress was lifted. Despite the fact it hadn't gone smoothly they'd still been successful and completed their mission without any injury. Bakugou was slouching even more than usual but, with his mask pushed up over his hairline, it was clear that the black rings around his eyes were more than just eyeliner or soot.
He kept his eyes on the street and didn't look back at the other two. "Dumbasses ain't gonna figure it out, yanno? They might get that it was a combo move to fuck up her disguise, but that's not why we took her down so easy. It didn't negate her stupid sedative thing. That was me. You get it, don't you Deku?"
"Yeah, I think so." Midoriya yawned as he watched a car pull up to the curb and turn on its hazards. "Your quirk is what took her out. Right? " He was starting to feel more exhausted than he really should have been.
"Sorta." Bakugou knew Deku had notes, a creepy amount of notes, on just about everyone and how their quirks worked. As long as they'd known each other he wouldn't be surprised if the nerd had his bathroom habits in that notebook.
Todoroki climbed into the backseat and left the door open as he scooted all the way through to the other side.
Midoriya scooted in next, leaving the last space for Bakugou.
The blond grumbled but shoved himself into the vehicle, anyway, too tired for the level of complaint the situation required. "I didn't do anything but subdue her, it's the fact we were all pissed and uncomfortable, and that was all me."
Even tired Bakugou could smirk at that.
Again, from nowhere, Midoriya pulled his notebook out and started jotting something down. It was unclear if this was an addition to Bakugou’s entry, or to Succubus’s. “So you made everyone mad on purpose. Interesting. That was a really smart move. I am surprised I didn’t realize that. Interesting.”
In all reality, the situation had been a bit overwhelming for Izuku and that had been the reason for his reaction. At least in part. Bakugou did seem to know exactly what buttons to push and when to get the reaction he wanted.
"Ptsh." Bakugou's head rolled against the back of the car seat as he tried to look irritated but just looked sleepier. It didn't help when he slurred a bit. "Mark it down: Deku, just cries when you say you don't like his stupid face but gets mad when you tease his boyfriend."
Mid pen stroke, Izuku stopped. His eyes widened and he felt his heart stop beating. Next to him, Todoroki was sound asleep, head lulled against the window, and a small snail trail of drool escaping from his lip.
“My what?” Deku breathed, feeling the last of his life filling those words.
"Crush. Whatever." Though odds were Bakugou barely registered the response as his eyes hadn't opened even once since blurting out his previous comment. "Just glad you're over me, that was f-- annoying…"
"I do not have a crush on Todoroki! " He whispered harshly. He didn't want to wake the other boy because that would only amplify the situation.
At least he didn't think he had a crush on Todoroki.
"Yeah, sure." The muffled sound that died in Bakugou's chest was probably a laugh, but it was hard to tell. "Least you're not denying you used ta have one on me. Er maybe...Froggy... Specs...Damn puppy."
He blinked and looked down at Bakugou with confusion and an ever reddening face. He didn’t have a crush on Bakugou? Or Todoroki. It had to be the sleepiness getting to him.
Before he knew what had happened, there was a buzzing in Midoriya's pocket. He had fallen asleep and his head was resting on Todoroki's shoulder. He woke with a snort and pulled the phone to his ear as he wiped the drool from his lip.
"Hello?" Came the half asleep response.
"Midoriya. Where are you? " Aizawa's voice was clear and sharp, edging the line between irritation and concern. "Endeavor contacted me, told me the situation, and that the three of you left without permission?"
Midoriya felt his entire body tense as he tried to kickstart his brain. "No. We finished debriefing. We're in a taxi heading home." He glanced out the window, trying to find a notable
landmark. "We're almost back. "
There was a beat of silence on the other end of the line as Aizawa sorted through... something. "I don't have one here from Bakugou. I need to stress the importance of filing your paperwork in the first twenty four hours unless you are physically incapable. He'll need to get that in before he can come back to class. I would have told him, myself, but he's not answering his phone."
"He's asleep." Perhaps it would be important to leave out that he would likely need to carry both boys in by himself since they were very, very unconscious. He, too, was tired, but he seemed to have gotten the least of the damage.
"Well he'll have to wake up when you reach his room, so tell him then. I'll send whoever's still awake and breaking curfew in the common room to help you get him inside. Other than the missing report, good work." And with that Aizawa hung up the phone, clearly satisfied that they would all make it back to the dorms in one piece.
A few minutes later they pulled up to the gates. It took a few more minutes before they were given clearance to enter. After the longest night ever, they pulled up to the UA dorms to a mass of their friends spilling out the doors. Many of the lights were on but not all.
"Guys! You ALL are up?” Midoriya commented as Kirishima opened the door Bakugou had been resting on.
With Bakugou's face pressed against the glass it was clear they had to decide if it was worth waking him up or if Kirishima could catch him in time to save them all from an explosion to the face. He chose the latter and he achieved it with flying colors.
On the other side of the car Ojiro chuckled, almost nervously, as he moved up to help Midoriya escape from underneath Todoroki's sleeping form. Shoto was practically dead weight, though he wasn't much of a hindrance for the martial artist.
Uraraka and Tsu approached with far less of a guilty expression (and probably Hagakure, but it was hard to tell since all they could see was her usual baby pink pajamas).
"Yeah, romcom night went kind of long," Ochako explained with a smile. "Jirou hadn't ever seen the one where Best Jeanist had that bit part as a fashion designer? Then it kind of got out of control..."
"And it was my turn for Mineta duty." Tokoyami deadpanned from the back, said grape haired pervert bound up like a mummy beneath Dark Shadow's form.
Izuku let out a long yawn as they all managed to exit from the taxi before the driver pulled away, leaving the teens in the cool air. "Well, thanks for meeting us. These two haven't budged since we left the agency." Midoriya yawned again.
"Must have been a tough mission." The girl grinned, being very Ochako. "Hey, if you aren't too tired, maybe you wanna stick around for the rest of the movie?"
Midoriya wasn't sure he'd be able to make it to his room from the exhaustion. The mission had taken a lot out of him, even if they had barely used their quirks. There was also class in the morning, yet Izuku didn't want to disappoint his friend. "With the others?" he asked, stifling a yawn.
"Well those of us who're still awake, unless you think you think you guys can get those two stripped out of their hero gear and back... down..." Uraraka's voice tapered off and a slight blush replaced it when she realized just how that sounded.
"-on't... with the teeth." The slightly furrowed brow and fastly closed eyes said Bakugou was sleep talking, though the comment still managed to draw eyes.
Kirishima instantly turned a vibrant red that could rival his hair. It was a good thing he was mostly shadowed in the dark. "Gotta get him to bed." he mumbled before quickening his pace and heading inside without another word.
"I don't think Bakugou's gonna be waking any time soon. He's probably also not going to be happy to find he's got paperwork to do in the morning." Midoriya yawned again, looking at Todoroki who'd grabbed Ojiro's tail and was holding it like a stuffed toy.
The dual quirked boy was mumbling something, and the only audible thing was the word 'Endeavor'.
"I'm not sure he'll be getting up anytime soon either." Midoriya admitted. He was suddenly wishing he'd been hit as hard as they had with the weird sleepiness.
"Bakugou sleep talking and Todoroki acting like a kid?" Jirou smirked as Ojiro dismissed himself to follow Kirishima's lead. He wasn't really bothered by the boy in his arms holding onto his tail, in fact he seemed used to it. "Shame we'll have to miss it. Seems like a once in a lifetime kind of thing."
"Yeah, maybe we'll raincheck the movie." Uraraka said simply, having thought it was a long shot, anyway. She turned with a shrug back to Izuku. "You look like you'll barely make it to your room. Tomorrow you'll tell us all about what's up with those two, right?"
Tsu was starting to feel it too, though in her case it was likely the cold air attributing to her slight sleepiness. It was then that Hagakure grabbed the frog girl, and tugged slightly to let her know she was there. "Let's go Tsu."
"Hopefully those two can handle it on their own. Bakugou has an awful lot of gear on his costume. It can't be safe to sleep in. We might need to send Kirishima reinforcements." Tsuyu gave as parting wisdom before accepting Toru's invite back inside.
At that point Tokoyami turned to tow Mineta back into the building as well, but stopped as he caught a final glimpse of Midoriya, who looked inches from falling over. "Speaking of reinforcements, we're on the same floor, if you need help making it to your room, I'm available."
"Thank you." Midoriya smiled with yet another long yawn. "Yeah. Rain check sounds good. Maybe tomorrow." Izuku nodded. The part of him that wanted to please his friends was happy that the side of him that just wanted to sleep won. "It's a long story. Probably over breakfast before class!"
"Okay! Get some rest, all right?"
"Can't wait to hear how you guys bested the villain, tomorrow. It was Succubus, right? The one haunting Musutafu square?" Jirou laughed as she began moving toward the door with Uraraka and Midoriya.
Midoriya smiled, wondering if maybe it was best to get that out of the way sooner rather than later. Bakugou was not going to be kind about it, after all. "Yeah. It really isn't that big a deal. Just hormonal teenagers, you know." He flush red realizing he was in the company of two women.
The two girls shared a look before turning back to support their dear friend.
"Okay, I knew that villain had a rep in the area…" Jirou said slyly, "but this is gonna be juicy stuff. Three boys coming back all tired after capturing an alluring temptress?"
"The story's not rated M, is it? I'm not sure everybody could handle that." Though, in her defense, Uraraka actually sounded compassionate for whatever might have befallen her friends.
"Oh no, no! Nothing like that at all! Just, you know, we just overwhelmed her, that's all!" Midoriya's bright blush was in full view as they stepped into the light of the dorms. Indeed the main floor looked freshly used and a movie has been paused mid scene.
"That actually does make a lot of sense." Jirou conceded, deciding the other boy had been teased enough for one night. "Your bed's calling. Besides, it's probably best to rest after an encounter with a quirk that messes with your head. Gang Orca was telling us it's the best way to get rid of any weird side effects that might linger after."
"We have to clean up, but Tokoyami will probably be waiting upstairs." Uraraka started to shoo him towards the elevator.
"Right." That did explain why the other two had crashed so hard. But it didn't explain why he hadn't. "See you two in the morning!"
Midoriya made it to the elevator, and leaned against the wall before pressing his floor number. And that was the last thing he remembered before he closed his eyes and fell asleep standing in place.
It took a few minutes for Tokoyami to find the sleeping boy, who'd managed to end up slumped at the back of the elevator without ever waking up. He was gently carried back to his room, only a floor up, and readied for bed with the economy of two men.